This invention relates to a shift assisting system and more particularly to an improved construction for assisting the shifting of a transmission containing a dog clutching element by reducing the engine speed during shifting operation.
Many types of transmission applications employ dog clutching elements for transmitting power. For example, marine propulsion transmissions generally include a bevel gear type of forward, neutral, reverse transmission that includes a dog clutching element that is selectively engageable with either of two counterrotating bevel gears so as to drive a propulsion shaft in selected forward or reverse directions. Although such types of transmissions offer the advantage of being able to transmit large amounts of power, the shifting of the transmission frequently presents difficulties. In order to assist in shifting such transmissions, it has been the practice to employ some device for sensing a shifting condition and reducing the engine power by reducing its speed during shifting.
Substantially all of the prior art mechanisms employed for this purpose require some form of lost motion in order to sense a shifting condition when power reduction is required. These types of devices obviously add to the complexity of the system. Also, due to their inherent introduction of lost motion into the shift mechanism, they make the shifting operation less exact than is desirable.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide an improved shift assisting system.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a shift assisting system which does not require lost motion in order to determine when a shift assist is required.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a shift assisting mechanism using a pressure sensitive conductive rubber for sensing when shift assist is required.